Tamarac Approves Revised Land Deal

DIGEST

November 27, 1986|Staff reports

TAMARAC -- The City Council voted 3-2 Wednesday for a revised contract to buy 17.5 acres of land in the western part of the city, temporarily laying to rest a controversy that has been in limbo for about a year.

The land, which the city plans to use for a new public-works building, is part of a 45-acre tract that the city agreed to buy last year for about $800,000. But a deed restriction prohibited the city from using it for a sewage plant, as the original plans called for, and the money has been held in escrow earning interest since then.

Under the original agreement, if the city did not use the land within 10 years, the original owner could buy it back for the $800,000 purchase price. Rather than risk taking such a loss, the city renegotiated the contract for less land.

Under the revised contract, the city will get the 17.5 acres and about $830,000; the city is paying for the land out of the interest earned while the money was in escrow.

Council members Helen Massaro and Arthur Gottesman voted against the contract. Massaro said the city should consider using the 45 acres for a new municipal complex, rather than building a new city hall on Pine Island Road on the site voters approved two years ago.